Queen Elizabeth’s Favorite Hobby Has Earned Her Millions

Looks like Queen Elizabeth II doesn’t need to hold her horses—according to some new figures from the British Horse Racing authority, she’s earned more than $8 million in prize money from her racing horses over the past three decades. Not $80,000, not $800,000—but $8,000,000. Yes, for those who are still struggling to comprehend that sum, it’s six. Whole. Zeroes.

Not that the she needs it. In 2011, Forbes estimated that the Queen was worth around $500 million. So, the $8 million is pretty much just a drop in the bucket for the good ole Windsors—but it’s important to give credit where credit is due. The Queen is objectively good at racing horses. With a win percentage of 15.9, she’s the 11th most successful owner during that 30-year period.

Which, likely, makes her quite happy! Horses—riding them, breeding them, and racing them—have been a lifelong passion of the Queen. (She got her first horse, a Shetland pony named Peggy, when she was 4.) In fact, sometimes, she looks like she enjoys horses more than regular humans.

However, there’s a more important lesson to be learned from this whole thing. Which is, 99 percent of us plebeians need to pick a new hobby. This writer, for example, has lost money on her hobbies. Reading? Need to buy books. Skiing? All that gear. Chess? The board . . . and bribing people to play. Although it’s unclear how much money Queen Elizabeth’s pumped into horse racing, at least she’s earned some semblance of a return on investment. (Forbes also notes that some of her fortune comes from stud farms, so, she’s definitely cutting some kind of equine-related profit.) Meanwhile, the rest of us will just have to settle for hobby-related enjoyment and fulfillment. (But really, millions of dollars sounds better, right?)